HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Audio Recordings

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 4 April 2011, Official Report, column 566W, on motions: audio recordings, whether the House of Commons Commission plans to place on the parliamentary website the remainder of the sound recording of the debate held on a Motion of no confidence in the Government on 28 March 1979; and if he will make a statement.

John Thurso: The selected clips from the 1979 audio recording of the debate held on a Motion of no confidence in the Government on 28 March 1979 have been published on the Living Heritage page on the Parliament website. Web access to complete archive films would require a major development of the Parliament Live TV website. Currently there are no plans to do this.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Departmental Mobile Phones

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been given to Ministers on mobile telephone security in the last three months.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply.
	On appointment, Ministers are given briefing on a wide range of security issues and are subsequently given any updates as a matter of course.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has considered the merits of extending the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme beyond the end of 2011.

Damian Green: The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme is only open to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania and forms part of the restrictions on labour market access currently applied to nationals of those countries. Those restrictions may be extended to the end of 2013 if there is a labour market case for doing so and the Government will be making a decision later this year.

HEALTH

NHS: Ambulances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS ambulances were damaged while in service in the last five years.

Simon Burns: The Department does not collect centrally information on the numbers of NHS ambulances damaged while in service.

Sickle Cell Anaemia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on sickle cell anaemia and the NHS.

Anne Milton: The Department receives representations periodically including invitations to Ministers to attend events of the All Party Parliamentary Group on sickle cell and thalassaemia. I attended the All Party Parliamentary Group on sickle cell and thalassaemia's parliamentary reception on 16 November 2010.

Air Ambulance Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS air ambulances are in service; and whether he has plans to increase this number.

Simon Burns: The national health service does not operate air ambulances—they are run and funded by independent charities. However, in order to strike an appropriate balance between the high cost to operate air ambulances and the role they can play in assisting the NHS in delivering emergency care, the NHS has, since 1 April 2002, normally met the cost of clinical staff on air ambulances. It remains for NHS trusts to decide whether they provide any additional funding to air ambulance charities.

Departmental Visits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many official trips he has made abroad in the last 12 months; and what expenditure his Department has incurred on such visits.

Simon Burns: Details of all ministerial overseas travel, including the cost, are published quarterly in arrears on the Department's website at the following address:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Ministersand DepartmentLeaders/Departmentdirectors/DH_110759

Hospitals: Libraries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure on hospital libraries in the last five years.

Simon Burns: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Bursary Scheme

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the cost of the NHS bursary scheme in each of the financial years from 2011-12 to 2015-16; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The National Health Service bursary scheme budget is part of the multi-professional education and training budget and paying students is the first call on this budget. In 2011-12, the NHS bursary scheme is expected to cost £520 million. Future costs will be dictated by student numbers, the level of attrition and the format of the NHS bursary scheme, which is currently under review.

NHS Bursary Scheme

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS bursary scheme will continue to cover tuition fees following the implementation of the Higher Education (Higher Amounts) (England) Regulations 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Higher Education (Higher Amounts) (England) Regulations 2010 will have no direct impact on national health service funded students as universities are prohibited from charging tuition fees under the terms of the standard contract. Tuition fees for medical and dental students in the later years of training are met from the NHS bursary scheme. We are assessing the impact of the regulations on these students and considering whether any changes are necessary.

WORK AND PENSIONS

State Retirement Pensions: Immigrants

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has made an estimate of the number of immigrants that would be affected by the proposed introduction of a seven-year minimum qualifying rule for future pensioners as part of his plans for state pension reform.

Steve Webb: The Government's consultation paper ‘A state pension for the 21st century’ sets out two broad options for reform to simplify the state pension and better support saving.
	The Government are currently seeking views on both options for reform as part of the consultation process and, as policy development is still under way, it is not possible to provide further detail at this stage. The Government will provide further detail and a full assessment of the impacts of any changes when they publish more detailed proposals for reform.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Office has taken to support the big society initiative.

Nicholas Clegg: My office are encouraged to participate in volunteering activities in accordance with the Cabinet Office's departmental policy on volunteering, for which the Minister for the Cabinet Office is responsible.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Office are participating in volunteering activities as part of his Office's involvement in the big society initiative.

Nicholas Clegg: I support any initiative to encourage volunteering and I will be taking an active role in the Speakers for Schools initiative along with my fellow Cabinet colleagues.

JUSTICE

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects the review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and victims' services to be completed.

Crispin Blunt: The Government intend to make an announcement before the summer recess.

Cumulative Jackson Proposals

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the impact assessment of the Cumulative Jackson Proposals, whether he has taken steps to verify independently the results table in Annex A; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: In undertaking the calculations in Annex A, Ministry of Justice officials engaged with Professor Paul Fenn of Nottingham University Business School as to the dataset used and the methodology applied. Professor Fenn acted as an assessor to Lord Justice Jackson.

Departmental Billing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many invoices his Department received in respect of goods or services supplied by tier 1 suppliers between 1 May 2010 and 1 April 2011; and how many of those invoices were not paid within the period of time specified in the Government's Fair Payment guidance.

Crispin Blunt: I can confirm that NOMS Shared Services paid 445,933 invoices between 1 May 2010 and 31 March 2011 of these 101,577 invoices were not paid within the period of time specified in the Government's Fair Payment guidance.

Earned Privilege Schemes

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many (a) foreign national prisoners and (b) immigration detainees were involved in incentive and earned privilege schemes in each of the last five years; and what the total monetary value of additional allowances and privileges awarded was in each such case in each year;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Prison Service Instruction 11/2011 on incentives and earned privilege.

Crispin Blunt: The incentives and earned privileges scheme applies to all prisoners, including all foreign national prisoners and immigration detainees. The purpose of the scheme is to allow prisoners to earn additional privileges through responsible behaviour, participation in hard work and other constructive activity. The key earnable privileges do not have a direct monetary value; for example, costs of in-cell television and wearing own clothes are borne by the prisoner. Other key earnable privileges, such as additional prison visits, are already provided by NOMS and form an integral part of the prison regime. Governors may offer additional earnable privileges as part of local schemes. Details of these are not held centrally and could be obtained only by contacting every prison at disproportionate cost.
	Prison Service Instruction 11/2011 did not introduce any substantive changes to the previous Incentives and Earned Privileges policy. The scheme is an integral part of prisoner management and the cost of operating it cannot be separately identified.

Judicial Review: Costs

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to revise the Boxall rules on costs in judicial review cases.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Government have not taken a view on Lord Justice Jackson's recommendation in his Review of Civil Litigation Costs to revise the law on the costs of judicial review claims which derives from the case of R (on the application of Boxall) v. Waltham Forest LBC (2001) 4 CCLR 258.

Legal Aid

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claims were brought in the Administrative Court under a conditional fee agreement using legal aid and in any other funding category in each of the last three years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice does not hold figures centrally which specifically relate to the total numbers of claims brought in the Administrative Court under a Conditional Fee agreement, using legal aid or another type of funding. While claims brought in the Administrative Court are recorded on IT systems, information on how they are funded is not recorded for each case.

Legal Aid: Reform

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress he has made in responding to his Department's consultation on the reform of legal aid; and when he plans to issue the response.

Jonathan Djanogly: We are making good progress in preparing the Government's response to the consultation. I anticipate being able to publish the response soon after Whitsun recess.

Legal Aid: Reform

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the name is of each respondent to his Department's consultation on the reform of legal aid.

Jonathan Djanogly: It is likely that a list of respondents will be published alongside the response to consultation.

Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has received reports of prisoners who have been identified as presenting a risk to children who have (a) requested and (b) been granted permission to make contact or correspond with a child in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: The consideration of any requests by prisoners to make contact or correspond with children takes place at the establishment where the prisoner is held. Information about such requests is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The level of risk posed by a prisoner to children will help the prison governor or his representative to determine whether to grant permission for contact, and what level of restrictions, if any, to apply. However, the overriding principle in decisions of this kind is what is in the best interests of the child.

Prisoners’ Release

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders have taken part in the payment by results programme at HMP Peterborough to date; how long each such offender was in custody in HMP Peterborough; what the average age has been of offenders participating in the payment by results programme at HMP Peterborough; what the average length of sentence has been of those taking part; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice has commissioned Social Finance Ltd to run the Social Impact Bond at Peterborough prison for a maximum period of six years. The project will work with three 1,000-offender cohorts, and the final cohort will close when it numbers 1,000 offenders, or in August 2016 if the capacity is not reached. Although an interim evaluation of the rehabilitation pilots will take place before February 2013, the assessment of reconviction rates for this cohort will begin 18 months after capacity is reached, and by February 2018 at the latest. The Ministry of Justice will measure the outcome of the programme in relation to the entire cohort of offenders eligible, and does not collect data on participation.

Prisons: Crimes of violence

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many incidents of attacks on (a) prison staff and (b) prisoners were recorded in prisons where the victim (i) was and (ii) was not hospitalised in 2010; and how many incidents of attacks on (A) prison staff and (B) prisoners were recorded in prisons where (1) a weapon and (2) no weapon was used in 2010;
	(2)  how many assaults by a prisoner on (a) a member of staff and (b) another prisoner were recorded in 2010.

Crispin Blunt: Statistics for 2010 have not yet been published. Safety in Custody statistics for 2000-09 can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statisticsanddata/prisonsandprobation/safetyincustody.htm
	The published statistics show assaults on staff, including prison officers, by establishment. The statistics do not specifically identify prisoner on officer assaults as a separate group.
	The Safety in Custody statistics for 2010 are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice website at the end of July.

Prisons: Security

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) covert tests, (b) unannounced tests and (c) planned tests with the objective of testing security processes, procedures and equipment in prisons have taken place in each prison in each of the last five years; and how many such tests were classed as (i) successful, (ii) partially successful and (iii) not successful.

Crispin Blunt: The testing of security procedures is a routine task in most prisons with covert, unannounced and planned tests of both physical and procedural security taking place on a daily basis. Nearly all of the information pertaining to the results is only used for local analysis and not collated centrally. The exception is covert testing data for the eight prisons in the High Security Estate; these data have been collated centrally since 2007 and are included in tabular format as follows. To comprehensively list all other outcomes from routine security tests would require significant disproportionate cost as it would involve the collation of many thousands of separate individual records.
	
		
			 2007-08 
			 Prison Successful P/successful Unsuccessful Total tests 
			 Belmarsh 23 2 9 34 
			 Frankland 28 2 6 36 
			 Full Sutton 23 1 12 36 
			 Long Lartin 26 3 7 36 
			 Manchester 30 2 4 36 
			 Wakefield 29 1 6 36 
			 Whitemoor 33 0 3 36 
			 Woodhill 25 2 6 33 
			 Total 217 13 53 283 
		
	
	
		
			 2008-09 
			 Prison Successful P/successful Unsuccessful Total tests 
			 Belmarsh 27 1 8 36 
			 Frankland 31 4 1 36 
			 Full Sutton 27 4 4 35 
			 Long Lartin 31 1 3 35 
			 Manchester 29 1 6 36 
			 Wakefield 27 0 9 36 
			 Whitemoor 28 1 6 35 
			 Woodhill 29 3 4 36 
			 Total 229 15 41 285 
		
	
	
		
			 2009-10 
			 Prison Successful P/s  uccessful Unsuccessful Total tests 
			 Belmarsh 24 1 4 29 
			 Frankland 31 0 4 35 
			 Full Sutton 21 4 6 31 
			 Long Lartin 20 1 3 24 
			 Manchester 22 0 7 29 
		
	
	
		
			 Wakefield 19 0 8 27 
			 Whitemoor 25 1 4 30 
			 Woodhill 20 5 6 31 
			 Total 182 12 42 236 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 
			 Prison Successful P/s  uccessful Unsuccessful Total tests 
			 Belmarsh 66 0 4 70 
			 Frankland 40 2 1 43 
			 Full Sutton 19 2 8 29 
			 Long Lartin 11 3 11 25 
			 Manchester 19 0 9 28 
			 Wakefield 17 1 7 25 
			 Whitemoor 26 4 14 44 
			 Woodhill 30 5 7 42 
			 Total 228 17 61 306

Prisons: Security

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many tests designed to test security processes, procedures and equipment in prisons identified areas of concern in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: The testing of security procedures is a routine task in most prisons with covert, unannounced and planned tests of both physical and procedural security taking place on a daily basis. Nearly all of the information pertaining to the results is used for local analysis only and not collated centrally. The exception is covert testing data for the eight prisons in the High Security Estate; these data have been collated centrally since 2007 and are included in tabular format as follows. It is important to note that the failure of a test does not necessarily mean that it has identified areas for concern; this is a value judgment that cannot be readily extrapolated from the data held. To comprehensively identify all other failures of routine security tests would require significant disproportionate cost as it would involve the collation of many thousands of separate individual records.
	
		
			  Tests completed Unsuccessful tests 
			 2007-08 283 53 
			 2008-09 285 41 
			 2009-10 236 42 
			 2010-11 306 61 
			 Total 1,110 197

Prisons: Suicide

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many individuals attempted to commit suicide in the prison estate in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, (d) 2009 and (e) 2010.

Crispin Blunt: Self harm is a complex behaviour and determining intent is often very difficult. The National Offender Management Service, (NOMS), uses a broad definition that includes attempts to commit suicide. Self-harm in prison custody is defined as:
	“any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury.”
	Self harm statistics for 2006-09 are included in the Safety in Custody statistics on the Ministry of Justice website at the following link:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statisticsanddata/prisonsandprobation/safetyincustody.htm
	Statistics for 2010 are not yet available. The Safety in Custody statistics for 2010 are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice website at the end of July.

Young Offenders: Alternatives to Prison

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what recent reports he has received on the effectiveness of the intensive alternative to custody pilot schemes for young adult offenders;
	(2)  how many young adult offenders were placed on intensive alternative to custody programmes in each of the pilot areas; and how many completed successfully their orders;
	(3)  for what reasons he decided not to extend the intensive alternative to custody pilot scheme for young adult offenders; and what plans he has for the future of the existing pilot areas;
	(4)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Cardiff North of 11 October 2010, Official Report, column 154W, whether he plans to commission an evaluation of the effects of the Intensive Alternative to Custody pilot schemes on re-offending among young adults who participated.

Crispin Blunt: A summary report of research on the Intensive Alternatives to Custody pilot schemes is currently being prepared. It is based on several process evaluations of the seven pilot sites, consideration of the results on the feasibility of conducting an evaluation of the impact of IAC on re-offending, and an economic break-even analysis. This report is due to be published in the summer. Further process evaluations of the IAC pilot sites are currently being concluded and reports will be published in due course.
	They cover all adult offenders, and do not currently disaggregate young adults from other adults.
	The following table is a breakdown of young adult offenders undertaking an Intensive Alternative to Custody by pilot area.
	
		
			  Age group 
			  18-20 21-24 
			 Derbyshire 58 64 
			 Dyfed-Powys 15 44 
			 Humberside 40 68 
			 Manchester 147 140 
			 Merseyside 46 57 
			 South Wales 27 45 
			 West Yorkshire 93 98 
			 Total 426 516 
		
	
	NOMS does not centrally keep statistical information on successful completion rates by age. The overall completion rate per pilot area for all IAC offenders is as follows:
	
		
			    Transfers Other Completion  
			 Area Total starts Revoked Out In Medical  /  deceased Normal/early completion Current case load 
			 Derbyshire 274 134 6 — 1 71 62 
			 Dyfed-Powys 112 59 — 1 — 27 25 
			 Humberside 276 100 — — 2 82 92 
			 Manchester 322 91 2 — 1 88 140 
			 Merseyside 203 46 4 1 1 55 96 
			 South Wales 186 75 3 — 2 68 38 
			 West Yorkshire 479 107 4 0 — 148 219 
			 Total 1,851 612 19 2 7 539 672 
		
	
	Of the 1,851 of offenders sentenced to IAC by 1 March 2011, 539 had successfully completed with 672 still completing their orders.
	There was never an intention to extend funding centrally beyond the end of the pilots. As the pilots have come to a close, each of the pilot areas has investigated ways either to mainstream provision or to expand delivery. Some areas have modified the IAC by combining the management of offenders with an Integrated Offender Management approach. This can reduce duplication of effort and maximise benefits realised through the contributions of partner agencies, thereby improving the efficiency of service delivery.
	MoJ are exploring the possibility of conducting an evaluation of the IAC pilots which will compare reoffending rates for all IAC offenders with reoffending rates for similar offenders receiving custodial sentences of less than 12 months.

Young Offenders: Foster Care

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans his Department has for the future of the intensive fostering programme for juvenile offenders.

Crispin Blunt: There are no current plans for the YJB to expand the existing four intensive fostering projects for sentenced young people. However, the Department of Education published on the 17 March a prospectus that sets out the details of a package of financial and other support to be made available to support evidence-based interventions for looked after children and children on the edge of care or custody. The interventions included in this package of support are Multi Systemic Therapy (MST), for children on the edge of care or custody, Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) and KEEP (parenting skills for foster carers) and Functional Family Therapy (FFT). They have been successful in helping some very vulnerable children and families to start to recover and to turn their lives around.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Health Services

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision exists for training placements for nurses in military hospitals.

Andrew Robathan: Military hospitals no longer exist in the United Kingdom. However, to meet the clinical training need of medical service personnel, including nurses, Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHUs) have been established within five NHS Trust hospitals.
	Over the past four years military nursing staffs have accessed clinical placements in 31 different NHS hospitals across England and Wales, as well as in the MDHUs, the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court, where Defence Medical Services personnel work clinically.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Nimrod R1 will be retired; when the RC-135W Air Seeker will come into service; and which assets will fill the SIGINT and ELINT capability in the interim period.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox), gave on 30 March 2011, Official Report, column 392W.
	Air Seeker is planned to enter service in 2014. Until then UK aircrew will be deployed on USAF Rivet Joint aircraft to provide electronic intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT) support to coalition operations. A number of other intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities will also be available to our armed forces during this time including: Sentry, Sentinel, Tornado GR 4 when fitted with a RAPTOR or Litening III pod, Typhoon when fitted with a Litening III pod, Sea King Mk7, Reaper Remotely Piloted Air System and Hermes 450 UAS.

Nuclear Submarines

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals have been made by his Department to its French counterparts on the future joint operation of ship submersible ballistic nuclear fleets.

Peter Luff: None.

CABINET OFFICE

Deaths: Liver Diseases

David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many deaths from (a) liver cancer and (b) other liver disease there have been in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths from (a) liver cancer and (b) other liver disease there have been in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in each of the last five years.
	The tables provide the number of deaths where the underlying cause was (a) liver cancer (Table 1) and (b) liver disease (Table 2) in England and each parliamentary constituency in England for the years 2005 to 2009 (the latest year available).
	A copy of the tables has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and cause are published annually on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15096

Departmental Pensions

Steven Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be spent on staff pensions in each of the next five years.

Francis Maude: Pension benefits for Cabinet Office staff are provided through arrangements under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. Therefore the budget for the Cabinet Office does not include expenditure for paying pensions.

Government Departments: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the initiative to reduce back office IT costs across government.

Francis Maude: The Government ICT Strategy was published on 30 March 2011 and can be found at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/uk-government-ict-strategy-resources
	The strategy sets out the coalition Government's plans to reduce back office ICT costs across government and deliver better public services for less cost. All initiatives will be funded from within existing spending plans. By September the Government will publish a strategic implementation plan which will set out further details of the costs and benefits.

New Businesses

Edward Timpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new businesses have been started in (a) Crewe and Nantwich constituency, (b) Cheshire East unitary authority, (c) the North West and (d) the UK in each year since 1987.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated May 2011
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many new businesses have been started in (a) Crewe and Nantwich constituency, (b) Cheshire East unitary authority, (c) the North West and (d) the UK in each year since 1987.
	Annual statistics on the number of enterprise births are available from 2002 onwards in the ONS release on Business Demography at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	The table below contains the latest statistics available, which give the number of enterprise births for the (a) Crewe and Nantwich constituency, (b) Cheshire East unitary authority, (c) the North West and (d) the UK in each year since 2002. Information relating to 2010 will be available following release of the latest Business Demography publication in November 2011.
	
		
			 Count of enterprise births from 2002-09 for Crewe and Nantwich constituency, Cheshire East unitary authority, North West and the UK 
			  Crewe and Nantwich constituency East Cheshire UA North West United Kingdom 
			 2002 325 1,605 24,625 242,540 
			 2003 350 1,865 27,735 267,000 
			 2004 345 1,795 28,845 280,080 
			 2005 385 2,140 29,220 274,855 
			 2006 360 1,915 27,265 255,530 
			 2007 385 2,070 30,195 280,730 
			 2008 375 1,960 27,465 267,445 
			 2009 285 1,675 23,920 236,025

Public Sector: Procurement

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of progress in enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to tender for Government procurement contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment has been made of progress in enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to tender for Government procurement contracts.

Francis Maude: On 11 February, the Prime Minister and I announced a series of measures to make it easier for SMEs to compete for Government contracts through:
	Increasing visibility of opportunities—by the week commencing 2 May 2011, we had published 1,062 procurement opportunities on Contracts Finder, with registrations from 1,523 supplier organisations.
	Simplifying prequalification—We are seeking to eliminate prequalification questionnaires below a £100,000 threshold and promoting use of the SME-friendly Open Procedure above £100,000, which is being tested on 11 projects. We will report on progress.
	Streamlining the procurement process—We are applying a ‘lean’ approach to strip out unnecessary overhead from Government procurement processes.
	Feedback—Introducing a new Mystery Shopper service. Three out of four completed cases concluded by the Mystery Shopper service have resulted in changes to simplify the procurement process. The first SME Panel meeting—allowing SMEs the opportunity to critically evaluate progress on the programme is scheduled for the end of June and will be chaired by the MCO.
	We will be publishing, in May or June, Central Government Departments’ specific action plans detailing how they will increase the amount of their business going to SMEs. We will also publish statistics showing progress towards the Government’s aspiration that 25% of its procurement expenditure should go to SMEs. Baseline data for 2009-10 are currently being collected and will be published once they are available.

Statistics

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of the quality of public statistics; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Sir Michael Scholar KCB, dated 12 May 2011
	.
	The UK Statistics Authority was established on 1 April 2008 by the coming into force of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The Statistics Authority has a statutory objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good.
	The Act requires the Authority to prepare and adopt a Code of Practice for Official Statistics, to use the Code of Practice to assess and determine whether the Code has been complied with in relation to any official statistics, and to designate those official statistics which have been assessed by the Authority as compliant with the Code as National Statistics.
	The Authority also monitors the production and publication of official statistics and makes reports about any concerns it might have about quality, good practice or comprehensiveness of any official statistics.
	The Authority publishes Assessment Reports following each of its statutory assessments, setting out requirements and suggestions to the relevant producer departments. Assessment Reports also indicate the Authority's decision in respect of designation as National Statistics and any conditions that should be met for designation to be confirmed. Assessment Reports and details of the Authority's Assessment forward work programme are published on the Statistics Authority's website at
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/assessment/index.html
	The Authority has published 114 Assessment Reports covering 550 statistical outputs since June 2009. A paper setting out the Authority's findings from the first 100 Assessment Reports was published in April 2011 and is available at
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/monitoring/monitoring-briefs/monitoring-brief-2-2011---findings-from-the-first-100-assessment-reports.pdf
	The Authority also publishes Monitoring Reports, shorter Monitoring notes, and items of correspondence with the Statistics Authority on specific issues that are of concern to the Authority. These are also published on the Authority's website at
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/monitoring/index.html
	and
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/reports---correspondence/correspondence/index.html

EDUCATION

Brighton and Hove: Funding

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many ring-fenced grants provided by his Department were available for Brighton and Hove city council to claim in 2011-12; how much is available in such grants; how many such grants have been made; and how much is to be awarded in such grants.

Nick Gibb: The funding streams to local authorities were rationalised for 2011-12 and there are two ring-fenced revenue grants available to Brighton and Hove council in 2011-12. These are the dedicated schools grant and the pupil premium grant.
	Funding for both grants is allocated on the basis of pupil numbers and total allocations for each grant will be confirmed in June 2011 once pupil number data from the January 2011 Census have been validated and agreed. For Brighton and Hove the grants will be allocated on the following basis:
	
		
			  Amount per pupil (£) 
			 Dedicated schools grant  
			 Guaranteed unit of funding (GUF) 5,017.08 
			   
			 Pupils eligible for pupil premium grant  
			 Eligible for free school meals 430.00 
			 Looked after children 430.00 
			 Service children 200.00

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to provide additional assistance to schools for the administration of 16 to 19 bursaries.

Nick Gibb: Schools, colleges and training providers are able currently to use up to 5% of their allocation of discretionary funds to meet the costs of administering the scheme; this will continue following the introduction of the 16 to 19 bursary fund.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to communicate to students details of the eligibility criteria for the proposed 16 to 19 bursary system; and what funds he has allocated for this purpose.

Nick Gibb: Information on the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is currently available on the Department for Education website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/studentsupport
	and will be updated after the end of the current consultation. We will also consider what further communication may be necessary. In doing so we will work with representative bodies of schools, colleges, training providers and others, to ensure appropriate communication of the new arrangements at a local level. We do not expect this activity to involve communications paid for by Government, in order that the maximum possible resource can be directed towards providing financial support for students.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on what dates students requesting 16 to 19 bursary funding in financial year 2011-12 will receive their first payment.

Nick Gibb: Exact dates of payments will depend on the student's circumstances and the arrangements put in place by schools, colleges and training providers for administering the fund locally.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department plans to give schools and colleges on the final date on which applications for 16 to 19 bursaries may be submitted for funds to be disbursed in financial year 2011-12.

Nick Gibb: Decisions regarding the date by which young people should apply for support from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund to receive payment in either the 2011-12 financial or academic year will be made locally. We will consider, following the ending of the consultation on the new arrangements, whether guidance is necessary on this matter.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of (a) school sixth forms and (b) further education colleges he expects to offer 16 to 19 bursaries in academic year 2011-12.

Nick Gibb: The proportion of school sixth forms and further education colleges that will receive an allocation of funding for the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund will depend on the methodology for allocating funding, on which we are currently consulting. Decisions regarding the awarding of bursaries to students will be made locally by schools, colleges and training providers.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to prevent any discrimination in the administration of the proposed 16 to 19 bursary scheme.

Nick Gibb: As we concluded in our equality impact assessment, we do not expect there to be any discrimination against young people on the basis of the protected characteristics which are set out in equalities legislation.
	With the exception of the guaranteed funding available to those young people from the most vulnerable groups, decisions about allocating the bursary funding will be for schools, colleges and training organisations to make. We do not intend to restrict this discretion. Schools, colleges and training providers are subject to equalities legislation, which means that they must not discriminate against their students on the basis of their protected characteristics, and they are also subject to the public sector equality duty in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010.
	We will monitor the impact of the introduction of the new fund, including with reference to levels of support by disability, ethnicity, gender and the other characteristics. We will also make sure that guidance to schools, colleges and training organisations is clear that they should consider their duty to promote equalities in making arrangements for the distribution of the fund.

Education: Finance

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to publicise and raise awareness of the 16 to 19 bursary scheme; and how much funding he has allocated for that purpose.

Nick Gibb: Information on the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is currently available on the Department for Education website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/16to19/studentsupport
	and will be updated after the end of the current consultation. We will also consider what further communication may be necessary. In doing so we will work with representative bodies of schools, colleges, training providers and others, to ensure appropriate communication of the new arrangements at a local level. We do not expect this activity to involve communications paid for by Government, in order that the maximum possible resource can be directed towards providing financial support for students.

Free Schools

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2011, Official Report, columns 49-50W, on free schools, what criteria his Department used in making decisions to consider further or reject proposals for free schools for 16 to 19 year olds; whether (a) local further education and sixth form colleges and (b) local authorities will be informed about those proposals his Department is considering further; and what mechanism he has put in place to enable the public to (i) receive details of and (ii) comment on the proposals.

Nick Gibb: The proposals for 16 to 19 free schools referred to in my answer of 14 March 2011, Official Report, columns 49-50W, were assessed against a set of core criteria, including the strengths of the proposals' aims and objectives, evidence of demand and suitability of premises and the proposers' capacity and capability. The Education Bill currently before Parliament contains provisions to make the necessary changes to the legislative framework to enable 16 to 19 free schools to be established. Subject to Royal Assent of the Education Bill, the first opportunity for such free schools to open will be September 2012. Applicants will be judged against the minimum and comparative criteria laid out in the recently published guidance document for free schools opening in 2012, details of which can be found at:
	www.education.gov.uk/freeschools
	Under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010, the Secretary of State has a duty to take account of the impact that establishing a new school might have on existing maintained schools, academies and institutions within the further education sector in the area where the free school is to be situated. This would include further education and sixth form colleges. The views of local authorities will also be taken into consideration when exercising this duty. The duty, in section 10 of the Academies Act 2010, is on the Academy Trust to consult with whom they deem appropriate on whether to enter into academy arrangements with the Secretary of State in relation to an additional school.

GCSE

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what number and proportion of children (a) receiving and (b) not receiving free school meals were entered for GCSEs in English, mathematics, science, history or geography and an ancient or modern language in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		
			 GCSE entries for pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 by free school meal eligibility 2010 (final), coverage: England, maintained schools (including Academies and CTCs) 
			  Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  (1) Pupils not eligible for free school meals  (1) 
			 GCSE entries by subject:   
			 (i) English   
			 Number 71,235 486,625 
			 Percentage of pupils 92 97 
			    
			 (ii) Mathematics   
			 Number 71,931 488,710 
			 Percentage of pupils 93 98 
			    
			 (iii) Science(2)   
			 Number 54,958 427,790 
			 Percentage of pupils 71 85 
			    
			 (iv) History   
			 Number 14,131 159,981 
			 Percentage of pupils 18 32 
			    
			 (v) Geography   
			 Number 11,446 135,553 
			 Percentage of pupils 15 27 
			    
			 (vi) An ancient or modern language(3)   
			 Number 18,712 215,161 
			 Percentage of pupils 24 43 
			    
			 English, mathematics, science(2), an ancient or modern language(3) and either history or geography:   
			 Number 7,495 131,134 
			 Percentage of pupils 10 26 
			 (1) Does not include pupils for whom free school meal eligibility could not be determined. (2) Pupils who entered at least one GCSE in core science, additional science, double award science, single award science, physics, chemistry or biological science. (3) Pupils who entered at least one GCSE in French, German, Spanish, Welsh, Irish, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese. Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Panjabi, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Persian, Czech, Swedish, Modern Greek, Modern Hebrew, Classical Greek, Latin and other languages. Source: National Pupil Database

GCSE

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what number and proportion of children (a) receiving and (b) not receiving free school meals attained grade C or above at GCSE in English, mathematics, science, history or geography and an ancient or modern language in each local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Achievements at GCSE for pupils at the end of key stage 4 by free school meal eligibility and local authority 2009/10 (final). Coverage: England, maintained schools (including academies and CTCs) 
			  Achieving grade A*-C in English, mathematics, science  (1)  , history or geography and an ancient or modern language  (2)   at GCSE  (3) 
			  Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  (4)   (FSM) Pupils not eligible for free schoolmeals  (4)   (non-FSM) 
			  Number of FSM pupils achieving Percentage of FSM pupils achieving Number of FSM pupils achieving Percentage of FSM pupils achieving 
			 North East     
			 Darlington 6 4 129 13 
			 Durham 25 3 593 13 
			 Gateshead 7 2 376 21 
			 Hartlepool 4 2 99 10 
			 Middlesbrough 11 2 118 10 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 12 2 342 17 
			 North Tyneside 10 5 327 17 
			 Northumberland 7 2 442 14 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 10 3 207 12 
			 South Tyneside 7 2 103 7 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 8 2 348 18 
			 Sunderland 7 1 310 11 
			      
			 North West     
			 Blackburn with Darwen 9 2 106 8 
			 Blackpool 8 3 112 9 
			 Bolton 35 5 353 12 
			 Bury 28 11 445 23 
			 Cheshire East 16 5 777 21 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 16 4 761 21 
			 Cumbria 14 3 923 17 
			 Halton 10 3 109 9 
			 Knowsley 5 1 61 5 
			 Lancashire 65 4 1,894 16 
			 Liverpool 46 3 651 18 
			 Manchester 36 2 277 9 
			 Oldham 15 2 194 8 
			 Rochdale 20 3 162 8 
			 Salford (1)— (1)— 144 8 
			 Sefton 24 5 432 15 
			 St Helens 3 1 165 10 
			 Stockport 14 4 476 18 
			 Tameside 15 4 259 10 
			 Trafford 31 10 841 33 
			 Warrington 5 2 451 20 
			 Wigan 18 3 447 13 
			 Wirral 47 5 861 29 
			      
			 Yorkshire and the Humber     
			 Barnsley 6 1 179 8 
			 Bradford 22 2 472 11 
			 Calderdale 10 3 423 19 
			 Doncaster 12 3 296 10 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 13 5 723 19 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 7 1 127 6 
			 Kirklees 25 4 592 15 
			 Leeds 43 3 1,064 16 
			 North East Lincolnshire 3 1 116 7 
			 North Lincolnshire 4 2 204 11 
			 North Yorkshire 27 6 1,502 23 
			 Rotherham 15 3 348 11 
			 Sheffield 22 3 730 15 
			 Wakefield 18 4 412 12 
			 York 4 3 379 23 
			      
		
	
	
		
			 East Midlands     
			 Derby 17 4 297 12 
			 Derbyshire 20 3 1,152 14 
			 Leicester 39 6 321 11 
			 Leicestershire 12 3 772 11 
			 Lincolnshire 19 3 1,603 20 
			 Northamptonshire 41 6 1,238 17 
			 Nottingham 14 2 239 12 
			 Nottinghamshire 23 2 1,273 16 
			 Rutland (1)— (1)— 127 27 
			      
			 West Midlands     
			 Birmingham 175 4 1,556 19 
			 Coventry 13 2 263 9 
			 Dudley 23 4 410 12 
			 Herefordshire 10 6 392 22 
			 Sandwell 6 1 160 5 
			 Shropshire 15 7 633 21 
			 Solihull 10 3 551 20 
			 Staffordshire 20 2 1,312 15 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 7 1 172 8 
			 Telford and Wrekin 19 6 346 19 
			 Walsall 20 3 374 13 
			 Warwickshire 16 4 1,109 19 
			 Wolverhampton 17 3 315 14 
			 Worcestershire 14 3 963 17 
			      
			 East of England     
			 Bedford (1)— (1)— 236 15 
			 Central Bedfordshire 3 2 394 14 
			 Cambridgeshire 28 6 1,354 24 
			 Essex 38 3 2,314 15 
			 Hertfordshire 64 7 3,482 29 
			 Luton 28 6 201 10 
			 Norfolk 42 5 1,415 17 
			 Peterborough 10 3 272 14 
			 Southend-on-Sea 18 7 576 29 
			 Suffolk 19 3 1,079 15 
			 Thurrock 5 2 140 9 
			      
			 Inner London     
			 Camden 39 8 235 23 
			 City of London n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Hackney 56 11 157 19 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 44 13 297 42 
			 Haringey 42 6 235 16 
			 Islington 46 8 78 9 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 18 15 117 27 
			 Lambeth 24 5 116 10 
			 Lewisham 23 5 246 14 
			 Newham 111 8 243 13 
			 Southwark 43 6 214 13 
			 Tower Hamlets 61 4 66 7 
			 Wandsworth 28 7 293 21 
			 Westminster 65 13 193 23 
			      
			 Outer London     
			 Barking and Dagenham 25 5 86 5 
		
	
	
		
			 Barnet 56 10 1,071 38 
			 Bexley 17 6 638 21 
			 Brent 62 10 475 22 
			 Bromley 20 7 801 26 
			 Croydon 37 7 538 17 
			 Ealing 60 9 465 21 
			 Enfield 66 8 684 24 
			 Greenwich 26 5 213 12 
			 Harrow 51 13 460 26 
			 Havering 12 5 601 21 
			 Hillingdon 29 6 369 15 
			 Hounslow 66 13 473 22 
			 Kingston upon Thames 10 10 500 37 
			 Merton 12 6 216 16 
			 Redbridge 80 16 708 26 
			 Richmond upon Thames 20 10 308 27 
			 Sutton 9 5 911 37 
			 Waltham Forest 49 8 254 13 
			      
			 South East     
			 Bracknell Forest (1)— (1)— 209 20 
			 Brighton and Hove 17 5 357 18 
			 Buckinghamshire 21 6 1,841 34 
			 East Sussex 13 3 791 16 
			 Hampshire 58 6 2,805 21 
			 Isle of Wight 11 5 143 11 
			 Kent 56 4 3,567 23 
			 Medway 9 3 467 15 
			 Milton Keynes 9 3 322 13 
			 Oxfordshire 18 4 1,326 22 
			 Portsmouth 7 3 192 11 
			 Reading 5 3 222 26 
			 Slough 13 5 387 29 
			 Southampton 7 2 124 7 
			 Surrey 29 5 2,489 24 
			 West Berkshire 7 6 470 25 
			 West Sussex 29 6 1,651 21 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 8 10 358 25 
			 Wokingham (1)— (1)— 489 27 
			      
			 South West     
			 Bath and North East Somerset 8 5 557 26 
			 Bournemouth 22 10 325 21 
			 Bristol, City of 10 2 343 14 
			 Cornwall 16 3 617 11 
			 Devon 29 5 1,172 17 
			 Dorset 17 6 928 23 
			 Gloucestershire 28 6 1,514 23 
			 Isles of Scilly n/a n/a — — 
			 North Somerset 6 3 362 17 
			 Plymouth 9 2 511 19 
			 Poole 5 4 399 26 
			 Somerset 11 3 873 16 
			 South Gloucestershire 9 5 464 15 
			 Swindon 6 2 211 11 
			 Torbay 8 4 335 25 
		
	
	
		
			 Wiltshire 13 5 1,015 20 
			 n/a = not applicable. There are no pupils at the end of key stage 4 in this FSM category (1 )Figures not shown in order to protect pupil confidentiality Notes: 1. Pupils who achieved at least one A*-C grade in core science, additional science, double award science, single award science, physics, chemistry or biological science GCSEs. 2. Pupils who achieved at least one A*-C grade in French, German, Spanish, Welsh, Irish, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Panjabi, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Persian, Czech, Swedish, Modern Greek, Modern Hebrew, Classical Greek, Latin and other languages. 3. iGCSEs, accredited at time of publication, have been counted as English and mathematics GCSEs. 4. Does not include pupils for whom free school meal eligibility could not be determined. Source: National Pupil Database

GCSE

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children of each ethnicity achieved A* to C GSCE grades in English, mathematics, one language, two sciences and history or geography in 2010.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Achievements at GCSE for pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 by ethnicity in 2009/10  (1,2)  , coverage: England, maintained schools {including Academies and CTCs) 
			  Number of pupils achieving A*-C grades in: 
			  Number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 English  (3) Mathematics Language  (4) At least two sciences  (5) Either History or Geography English  (3)   Mathematics, Language  (4)  , at least two sciences  (5)   and either History Geography 
			 White 477,313 316,446 296,878 128,368 218,704 155,692 73,668 
			 White British 456,606 303,923 284,344 118,832 209.939 149,435 70,124 
			 Irish 2,006 1,495 1.391 715 1.111 921 503 
			 Traveller of Irish Heritage 123 36 30 4 16 11 * 
			 Gypsy/Roma 534 89 72 26 34 18 * 
			 Any Other While Back ground 18,044 10,903 11,039 8,791 7,604 5,307 3,038 
			         
			 Mixed 16,040 12,280 11,161 5,515 8,150 5,375 2,823 
			 White and Black Caribbean 6,430 3,975 3,368 1.239 2,227 1,359 548 
			 White and Black African 1,693 1,166 1,062 559 745 474 237 
			 White and Asian 3,516 2.657 2,554 1,387 2,019 1,385 834 
			 Any Other Mixed Background 6,401 4,432 4,177 2.330 3.159 2,157 1,204 
			         
			 Asian 42,440 28,654 28,300 14,778 20,478 12,698 6,606 
			 Indian 13,099 10,419 10,253 5,841 8,292 5,300 3,176 
			 Pakistani 16,273 9,823 9,352 4,558 6,155 3,827 1,682 
			 Bangladeshi 6,495 4,202 4,089 1,667 2,718 1,565 603 
			 Any Other Asian Background 6,573 4,210 4,596 2,692 3,313 2,006 1,145 
			         
			 Black 24,163 15,186 13,792 5,883 8,858 5,322 2,160 
			 Black Caribbean 8,033 4,823 4,074 1,389 2,526 1,426 544 
			 Black African 13,372 8,706 8,243 3,773 5,393 3,349 1,394 
			 Any Other Black Background 2,758 1,657 1,475 721 939 547 222 
			         
			 Chinese 2,236 1,730 2,032 1,531 1,556 1,040 763 
			         
			 Any Other Ethnic Group 6,616 3,977 4,158 3.098 2,795 1,638 920 
			 Unclassified(6) 7,251 4,665 4,370 2,127 3,186 2.332 1,170 
		
	
	
		
			 All pupils 578,059 382,938 360,689 161,300 263,727 184,097 86,110 
			 * = Figures not shown in order to protect confidentiality. (1) Final Data. (2) In 2010 iGCSEs, accredited at lime of publication, have been counted as GCSE equivalents and also as English and mathematics GCSEs. (3) Highest grade achieved in English, English Studies or English Language. (4) Covers the following GCSE languages: French, German, Spanish. Danish, Dutch, Italian, Modern Greek, Portuguese, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Panjabi, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Persian. (5) The two sciences can be either; (i) Double science GCSE or (ii) GCSE Science (Core or Applied) plus GCSE Additional Science or Applied Additional Science or GCSE Land and Environment or (iii). At least two of the following subjects: Physics GCSE, Chemistry GCSE and Biological Science GCSE. (6) Includes pupils for whom ethnicity or first language was not obtained, refused or could not be determined. Source: National Pupil Database

Health Education: Sex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 5 April 2011, Official Report, columns 779-80W, on health education: sex, when he plans to place copies of the information in the Library; if he will send a copy of the information to the hon. Member for Southend West; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Loughton: The information requested was placed in the House Libraries on 11 May 2011, and a copy has been sent to the hon. Member.

Higher Education: Admissions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of schools in Coventry sent at least one pupil to the university of (a) Oxford and (b) Cambridge in each of the last 13 years.

David Willetts: I have been asked to reply.
	Information has been supplied by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is in the following table.
	
		
			 Schools in Coventry with applicants accepted to full-time undergraduate courses at Oxford university or university of Cambridge via UCAS 
			  Oxford university University of Cambridge 
			 Year of entry Number of schools with acceptances Percentage of schools with acceptances Number of schools with acceptances Percentage of schools with acceptances 
			 2001 2 25 3 38 
			 2002 2 25 2 25 
			 2003 2 25 1 13 
			 2004 3 38 1 13 
			 2005 3 38 2 25 
			 2006 1 13 2 25 
			 2007 2 25 3 38 
			 2008 2 25 3 38 
			 2009 2 25 3 38 
			 2010 2 25 3 38 
			 Source: UCAS 
		
	
	Schools have been identified as those with a postcode in the Coventry North East, Coventry North West and Coventry South parliamentary constituencies. Other kinds of centres have not contributed to this analysis. Only schools from which UCAS received applications in the cycle concerned have contributed to the proportion calculation. Data for earlier years have not been provided as the necessary reference data are not available.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to reply to the letter of 17 March 2011 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton transferred from the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard to Mr Nyongo.

Tim Loughton: The right hon. Member’s letter of 17 March was responded to on 5 May. Please accept my apologies for the delay.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Regulation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Government intends to exempt any regulations from the moratorium on new domestic regulation for small businesses announced in the 2011 Budget.

Mark Prisk: We expect the moratorium to be applied to all new regulations unless a compelling case is put forward for a waiver. At present no waivers have been agreed for regulations planned for commencement on 1 October.
	A small number of regulations were exempted from the micro-business moratorium at the 4 April common commencement date, either because excluding micro-businesses would completely undermine the policy intention or because exclusion would not be meaningful in policy terms. These were:
	Migration Cap—Introducing an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants admitted into the UK to live and work (Tier 1, 2 and 4);
	Travel Concession Schemes Regulations (Transport Act 1985);
	Equality Act 2010 (application of Seafarers);
	Competition Act 1998 (Land Agreement Exclusion Revocation);
	Flood Risk Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee (England) Regulation.

Departmental Information Officers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many press officers his Department employs.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) currently employs 27.3 press officers.
	This includes one press officer shared between, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Trade and Investment and BIS. This excludes one press officer working in BIS but employed by the Intellectual Property Office.

Private Rented Housing: Regulation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2011, Official Report, column 669W, on private rented housing: regulation, whether (a) sole traders and (b) partnerships are included in the Government's definition of a micro business.

Mark Prisk: I can confirm that both sole traders and partnerships with fewer than 10 employees are included in the definition of a micro business.

UK Trade & Investment: AssetCo

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether staff of UK Trade & Investment have provided (a) advice and (b) support to AssetCo plc; in which years such advice and support was given; and what the total cost to the public purse was of such advice and support.

Mark Prisk: Records show that UKTI assisted AssetCo in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Information on the nature of any support given to individual companies UKTI assists is commercially sensitive and held in confidence.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

National Lottery

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the criteria Camelot applies in considering existing businesses with lottery terminals when deciding whether to introduce further such terminals to a locality; and whether his Department issues guidance on this matter;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the criteria to be met for Camelot to install a lottery terminal in (a) a supermarket and (b) other business premises;
	(3)  if he will direct (a) his Department and (b) the National Lottery Commission to investigate the process whereby Camelot allocates lottery terminals to (i) supermarkets and (ii) small retailers;
	(4)  what regulations govern the allocation by Camelot of new lottery terminals to (a) independent retailers and (b) supermarkets.

John Penrose: Decisions on the selection of National Lottery retailers are a matter for Camelot in line with the requirements of its licence to operate the National Lottery. This includes an obligation to:
	“ensure that fair and clear criteria are specified and applied for retailers to qualify for selection and deselection (and) make the criteria available on request.”
	The National Lottery Commission is responsible for checking that criteria are in place and are reasonable. I understand that the Chair and Chief Executive of the National Lottery Commission have met the hon. Member to discuss this issue and would be happy to discuss any further concerns with her. I have no plans to look at the process of allocation of lottery terminals at this time.

National Lottery

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what representations (a) his Department and (b) the National Lottery Commission have received on the practices of Camelot in allocating lottery terminals to supermarkets.

John Penrose: According to departmental records, in addition to the representations from the hon. Member, the Department received two representations from Members of Parliament on behalf of constituents about the allocation of National Lottery terminals to nearby supermarkets or multiples in the last financial year. Over the same period, the National Lottery Commission received 14 representations, on behalf of applicants for National Lottery terminals, about Camelot’s allocation of terminals. We do not hold information on whether these were specifically about the allocation of terminals to supermarkets.

Television: Local Broadcasting

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many organisations have submitted to his Department expressions of interest to operate the new national television spine supporting local television.

Jeremy Hunt: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has received 21 expressions of interest from organisations specifically interested in operating a network channel to support local TV.

Television: Local Broadcasting

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport by what date he expects the first local television stations to begin broadcasting.

Jeremy Hunt: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Structural Reform Plan states that the first local services are to be licensed by summer 2012. The services are then expected to start broadcasting following this, most likely from 2013 onwards.

Television: Local Broadcasting

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what plans he has for future development of local television services;
	(2)  what progress has been made on the bidding process for a new national television spine to support local television; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Hunt: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently analysing responses to the local media action plan. I will make a statement once this work has been completed.

Television: Local Broadcasting

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much resource his Department has allocated to manage the bidding process for a new national television spine.

Jeremy Hunt: As a bidding process is not yet under way, no resource has been allocated.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departmental Pensions

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of his Department's budget he expects to be spent on staff pensions in each of the next five years.

Bob Neill: The proportion of the Department's budget to be spent on employer contributions to staff pensions in each of the next five years will be determined by whatever changes are agreed to the Principal Civil Service scheme following the recommendations in the Button Review.
	When the civil service pension arrangements were reformed in 2009, a commitment was made to share future increases (and decreases) in scheme costs between active scheme members and employers and to cap the average employer contribution at 20% (currently 18.9%) of pay. Changes will take effect from April 2012.

Housing: Construction

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to announce details of his proposed pilot land auctions; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: holding answer 5 May 2011
	The Government announced in “The Plan for Growth” published at Budget 2011 that they will pilot the land disposal elements of the land auction model. The details of the pilot will be announced in due course.
	The land auctions model seeks to capture a greater share of the land value uplift created by the granting of planning permission than is currently the case. This may bring a number of benefits compared to the current system of allocating land for development, potentially making significantly more land available for development, increasing competition and bringing greater certainty and reduced risks for developers. It would work alongside existing mechanisms such as the community infrastructure levy. The model would generally involve local authorities auctioning planning permission on parcels of land, owned either by the public sector or private landowners who want to participate.

Local Government Resource Review

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to complete the review of the funding formula as part of the local government resource review.

Bob Neill: The terms of reference of the Local Government Resource Review were set out in a written statement on 17 March 2011, Official Report, column 19-21WS. The Government intend to set out their proposals for consultation in due course.

Ordnance Survey: Southampton

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total gross cost to the public purse is of the Ordnance Survey's new offices at Adanac Park, Southampton.

Bob Neill: The cost of the new offices to Ordnance Survey was £43.6 million.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bahrain: United Arab Emirates

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the inventory of (a) military and (b) other equipment that the United Arab Emirates contributed to the Gulf Co-operation Council force sent to Bahrain in March 2011.

Alistair Burt: We have seen no evidence that the United Arab Emirates have contributed anything other than a military contingent and their personal equipment.

Departmental Buildings

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the (a) name and (b) address is of each building owned by his Department; and what the estimated monetary value is of each such building.

David Lidington: In the United Kingdom, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) owns three properties:
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	King Charles Street
	London SW1A 2AH
	(value: £105 million)
	Old Admiralty Building
	London SW1A 2PA
	(value: £57 million)
	and
	Hanslope Park
	Milton Keynes
	MK19 7BH
	(value of whole site; £22 million)
	Overseas, the names and addresses of all public FCO buildings are available on the FCO website at:
	www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/find-an-embassy
	Providing a break-down of which are owned and which of these are rented could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	The names and addresses of non public-facing properties (eg staff residential properties overseas) are generally not disclosed by the FCO since putting such addresses into the public domain may put staff at greater risk of terrorism or other criminal activity.
	The FCO estate is valued annually by professional chartered surveyors, and the latest total market values of properties, aggregated by country, are contained in the following table. The FCO does not publish its current valuations of individual buildings, since this information is commercially sensitive and could prejudice the FCO's ability to extract best value for the UK taxpayer in negotiations with third parties.
	The FCO does, however, recognise that the sensitivity of such valuations diminishes over time, and the Department contributes to the centrally published asset values produced by HM Government. The latest figures can be found in the 2007 National Asset Register Chapter 10, pages 417-421, where a list of all FCO owned properties valued in excess of £1 million was last published. The link is:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7022/7022.pdf
	
		
			 FCO estate summary by country 2010 (figures rounded to nearest £10,000) 
			 Property valuations summed by country 
			 Directorate Country Value at September 2010 (£) 
			 Africa Directorate Angola 14,850,000 
			 Africa Directorate Botswana 2,010,000 
			 Africa Directorate Cameroon 500,000 
			 Africa Directorate Congo 6,060,000 
			 Africa Directorate Ethiopia 160,000 
			 Africa Directorate Gambia 2,740,000 
			 Africa Directorate Ghana 8,700,000 
			 Africa Directorate Ivory Coast 840,000 
			 Africa Directorate Kenya 16,470,000 
			 Africa Directorate Malawi 3,110,000 
			 Africa Directorate Mauritius 4,680,000 
			 Africa Directorate Mozambique 2,070,000 
			 Africa Directorate Namibia 1,910,000 
			 Africa Directorate Nigeria 26,040,000 
			 Africa Directorate Rwanda 570,000 
			 Africa Directorate Senegal 4,570,000 
			 Africa Directorate Seychelles 970,000 
			 Africa Directorate Sierra Leone 2,280,000 
			 Africa Directorate South Africa 12,940,000 
			 Africa Directorate Sudan 5,170,000 
			 Africa Directorate Tanzania 11,520,000 
			 Africa Directorate Uganda 9,890,000 
			 Africa Directorate Zambia 5,540,000 
			 Africa Directorate Zimbabwe 8,980,000 
			    
			 Americas Directorate Antigua and Barbuda 90,000 
			 Americas Directorate Argentina 28,300,000 
			 Americas Directorate Barbados 4,610,000 
			 Americas Directorate Belize 1,280,000 
			 Americas Directorate Bolivia 1,410,000 
			 Americas Directorate Brazil 6,840,000 
			 Americas Directorate Canada 36,370,000 
			 Americas Directorate Chile 7,790,000 
			 Americas Directorate Colombia 3,180,000 
			 Americas Directorate Costa Rica 1,320,000 
			 Americas Directorate Ecuador 1,510,000 
			 Americas Directorate Falklands 360,000 
			 Americas Directorate Guatemala 3,920,000 
			 Americas Directorate Guyana 1,120,000 
			 Americas Directorate Jamaica 6,690,000 
			 Americas Directorate Mexico 6,380,000 
			 Americas Directorate Montserrat 1,540,000 
			 Americas Directorate Panama 2,850,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Americas Directorate Peru 9,510,000 
			 Americas Directorate St Lucia 390,000 
			 Americas Directorate St Vincent and Grenadines 0 
			 Americas Directorate Trinidad and Tobago 990,000 
			 Americas Directorate United States 132,480,000 
			 Americas Directorate Uruguay 4,100,000 
			 Americas Directorate Venezuela 6,100,000 
			    
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Australia 31,980,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Burma 2,960,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Fiji 1,430,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Hong Kong 115,080,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Indonesia 19,750,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Japan 26,780,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Korea 40,780,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Laos 1,330,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Malaysia 27,620,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate New Zealand 7,830,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Papua New Guinea 2,750,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Philippines 11,630,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Singapore 46,780,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Solomon Islands 450,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Thailand 158,850,000 
			 Asia and Pacific Directorate Vietnam 1,960,000 
			    
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Armenia 1,910,000 
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Georgia 6,810,000 
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Kazakhstan 0 
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Russian Federation 1,570,000 
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Tajikistan 360,000 
			 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate Ukraine 4,080,000 
			    
			 European Directorate Albania 1,680,000 
			 European Directorate Austria 15,660,000 
			 European Directorate Belgium 14,290,000 
			 European Directorate Bulgaria 3,730,000 
			 European Directorate Cyprus 10,490,000 
			 European Directorate Czech Republic 6,290,000 
			 European Directorate Denmark 7,760,000 
			 European Directorate Estonia 650,000 
			 European Directorate Finland 17,450,000 
			 European Directorate France 129,000,000 
			 European Directorate Germany 32,620,000 
			 European Directorate Greece 30,670,000 
		
	
	
		
			 European Directorate Holy See 500,000 
			 European Directorate Hungary 3,930,000 
			 European Directorate Iceland 610,000 
			 European Directorate Irish Republic 7,970,000 
			 European Directorate Italy 68,070,000 
			 European Directorate Latvia 1,450,000 
			 European Directorate Lithuania 1,880,000 
			 European Directorate Luxembourg 2,700,000 
			 European Directorate Macedonia 210,000 
			 European Directorate Netherlands 11,690,000 
			 European Directorate Norway 16,720,000 
			 European Directorate Poland 26,630,000 
			 European Directorate Portugal 10,830,000 
			 European Directorate Romania 5,380,000 
			 European Directorate Serbia 3,690,000 
			 European Directorate Slovakia 3,940,000 
			 European Directorate Slovenia 470,000 
			 European Directorate Spain 8,570,000 
			 European Directorate Sweden 22,550,000 
			 European Directorate Switzerland 49,140,000 
			 European Directorate Turkey 16,390,000 
			    
			 Home Estate United Kingdom 184,710,000 
			    
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Algeria 13,500,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Bahrain 12,600,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Egypt 50,000,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Iran 89,050,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Iraq 0 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Israel 9,970,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Jerusalem 4,010,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Jordan 9,780,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Kuwait 40,790,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Morocco 4,350,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Oman 11,040,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Qatar 0 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Saudi Arabia 23,120,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Syria 1,910,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Tunisia 4,850,000 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate United Arab Emirates 0 
			 Middle East and North Africa Directorate Yemen 4,090,000 
			    
			 South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate Bangladesh 120,000 
			 South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate India 61,310,000 
			 South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate Nepal 220,000 
			 South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate Pakistan 31,230,000 
		
	
	
		
			 South Asia and Afghanistan Directorate Sri Lanka 17,830,000 
			    
			 Global All countries total 2,042,480,000

Embassies: Buildings

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent in the last two years on improvements to embassy and high commission properties in each country in each of the last two years.

David Lidington: Improvements to properties are partly funded by budgets devolved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's network of overseas posts, so the information is available only in the form requested at disproportionate cost.

Shoaib Assadullah

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Afghan Government on the case of Shoaib Assadullah; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We have worked with the international community to raise this case with the Afghan Government.
	We continue to remind the Afghan Government of their duty to abide by their national and international commitments on freedom of religion and belief.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with UN counterparts on the UN Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: Since its public release, we have discussed the report and recommendations with our UN counterparts, including the need for concrete action by the Sri Lankan Government on the recommendations. We have consistently called for an independent and credible investigation to address the allegations of war crimes committed by both sides in the military conflict and have urged the Government to respond constructively to the report.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent report of the UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: We welcome the UN Panel of Experts report to the UN Secretary-General on the issue of accountability for alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by both sides during the military conflict in Sri Lanka. The serious nature of the allegations in the report make clear that this issue must be resolved before lasting reconciliation can be achieved in Sri Lanka. We are studying the recommendations and report carefully, and urge the Sri Lankan Government to use it as a means to promote national reconciliation.

West Africa: Piracy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the threat to UK shipping from piracy off the coast of West Africa.

Henry Bellingham: The levels of attacks and incidents of violence linked to piracy and armed robbery off the coast of West Africa has increased slightly, with eight actual or attempted attacks reported in the first quarter of this year alone, compared to six the previous year. To mitigate this risk, we are supporting the International Maritime Organisation and the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) to increase the integration of their coastguard functions through closer co-ordination and information-sharing. The UK will continue to provide assistance in co-ordination with international partners to build the maritime security capacity of regional countries in response to multiple maritime security challenges. We also welcome strongly the offer made by Ghana, with the assistance of the shipping industry, to host a Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre to provide information and warnings to commercial shipping travelling in the region.

TREASURY

Corporation Tax: Businesses

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average value to businesses of his decision to reduce the main rate of corporation tax to 26% with effect from April 2011.

David Gauke: The total cost to the Exchequer in 2011-12 of the reduction in the main rate of corporation tax from 28% to 26% is £855 million. Around 85,000 companies will benefit from the change.
	The full fiscal impact of the reductions in the main rate of corporation tax announced in the March 2011 Budget are shown in Table 2.1 (page 42) of the “Budget 2011” document published by HM Treasury on 23 March 2011. The impact of the reductions announced in June 2010 can be found in Table 2.2 (page 44).
	A link to the full document is given here:
	http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_complete.pdf

Debts: Developing Countries

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is taking steps to encourage his counterparts (a) in the US Administration and France and (b) other members of the Paris Club to introduce legislation similar to the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010.

David Gauke: The Government have decided to make the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 permanent. The draft order was laid before Parliament on 28 March 2011.
	The UK has shared information regarding UK legislation with Paris Club members and will continue to share its experience of addressing non-participation in debt relief with all members of the Paris Club.

Debts: Developing Countries

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is taking steps to encourage (a) Jersey and (b) other British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories to introduce legislation in line with the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010.

David Gauke: The Government have decided to make the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 permanent. The draft Order was laid before Parliament on 28 March 2011.
	The UK will share its experience of addressing non-participation in debt relief with Britain's Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

Departmental Manpower

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what efficiency savings will be required of the Valuation Office Agency in each of the next four years; and what changes in staffing levels are planned.

David Gauke: The Valuation Office Agency is net-funded by its clients for the services provided. Therefore its forecast funding depends on the future requirements of its major clients and an estimate of work likely to be obtained through competitive tenders in its Commercial Services work. Its forecast work over this period also includes the cyclical non-domestic rating revaluation which comes into effect on 1 April 2015. The current forecast funding for the next four years shows cumulative real terms efficiency savings of:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 
			 Excluding revaluation 2015 4.6 11.3 19.5 21.0 
			 Including revaluation 2015 4.6 8.4 9.7 13.6 
		
	
	Total staff numbers will also depend on final client requirements. The current overall forecast staff requirement in full-time equivalent terms is:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2011-12 3,559 
			 2012-13 3,506 
			 2013-14 3,545 
			 2014-15 3,441

Excise Duties: Fuels

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2011, Official Report, column 1166W, on excise duties: fuel, if he will submit an application to the European Commission for implementation of a five pence per litre discount on fuel duty for remote rural areas of North Yorkshire.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 May 2011, Official Report, column 680W.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons the letter of 20 April 2011 from the hon. Member for Walsall North regarding changes to public sector pensions has not yet been transferred to another Department.

Danny Alexander: The case was transferred to the Department for Communities and Local Government on 11 May.

Public Sector: Pay

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what arrangements he has put in place in connection with the payment of £250 salary increases to lower-paid workers employed by the Government;
	(2)  pursuant to paragraph 2.18 of the June 2010 Budget, HC 61, what definition of (a) public sector and (b) workforces was used in the June 2010 Budget; and in what circumstances public sector workers earning £21,000 or less may not receive a pay increase.

David Gauke: The Government have announced a two-year pay freeze from 2011-12 for public sector work forces, except for those earning £21,000 or less, who will receive an increase of at least £250 per year.
	This policy applies to work forces under ministerial control including the civil service and work forces with pay review bodies: doctors and dentists, NHS Agenda for Change, teachers, the armed forces and prisons. The Home Secretary determines police officer pay, taking into account the Police Negotiating Board's recommendations and the Government's policy on public sector pay.
	Other work forces have responsibility for negotiating their own pay deals.

Radio Frequencies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether funding granted to wireless microphone owners towards the cost of replacing redundant channel 69 equipment will be classified as a grant for tax purposes; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what effect funding granted to wireless microphone owners towards the cost of replacing redundant channel 69 equipment will have on a company's corporation tax liability; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has had with (a) Ofcom, (b) HM Revenue and Customs and (c) industry representatives on the tax treatment of funding to wireless microphone owners towards the cost of replacing redundant channel 69 equipment; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Following receipt of these questions HM Treasury officials have discussed, with HMRC, the main corporation tax consequences of Ofcom's grants to companies following the relocation of users of channel 69. Where the amount is compensation paid for surrender of wireless equipment, then the amount will be taken into account in calculating the disposal value of the equipment for the purposes of making capital allowance or corporate gains calculations. Otherwise, receipt of the payment will generally be revenue, which will be taken into account in calculating the company's taxable profits.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2011, Official Report, column 529W, on telephone services, how many telephone calls staff in the Debt Management Telephone Centre unit of HM Revenue and Customs (a) received from and (b) made to customers on 24 April 2011.

David Gauke: holding answer 9 May 2011
	HMRC's Debt Management Telephone Centre handled 116 inbound and made 79 outbound telephone calls on Sunday 24 April 2011.

Taxation: Personal Income

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the average change to the level of income in (a) real terms and (b) cash terms as a result of his decision to increase the personal income tax allowance with effect from 5 April 2011;
	(2)  how many people have been affected (a) nationally, (b) in each region and (c) in each local authority by his decision to increase the personal income tax with effect from April 2011;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of people in each (a) region and (b) local authority who will no longer pay income tax following the decision to increase the personal income tax allowance with effect from April 2011.

David Gauke: The June 2010 Budget announced a £1,000 cash increase in the personal allowance for under 65s to £7,475 in 2011-12 (£820 above the previous Government's plans), with the benefits focused on individuals on low and middle incomes through accompanying changes to the basic rate limit and national insurance upper earnings and profit limits.
	For basic rate taxpayers aged under 65 this represents a £164 real terms and £200 cash benefit.
	As a result of these measures, the Government estimate that 22.6 million basic rate taxpayers will benefit in 2011-12, among which 830,000 of the lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether. Information at Government office region is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Thousand 
			 Government office region Basic rate gainers Number taken out of income tax 
			 North East 973 35 
			 North West and Merseyside 2,520 100 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1,880 74 
			 East Midlands 1,670 59 
			 West Midlands 1,990 71 
			 East of England 2,060 76 
			 London 2,700 103 
			 South East 3,040 98 
			 South West 1,990 71 
			 Wales 1,070 41 
			 Scotland 2,000 67 
			 Northern Ireland 612 23 
			 Address abroad/unknown 142 11 
			 All 22,600 830 
		
	
	These estimates are based on the 2007-08 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's March 2011 economic and fiscal outlook.
	Reliable estimates are not available at the local authority level, due to greater uncertainties in projections for small geographical areas and small sample sizes.

Taxation: Personal Income

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who will no longer be eligible to pay income tax following his decision to increase the personal income tax allowance in April 2012 in each (a) region and (b) local authority area;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the change to the level of income in (a) real terms and (b) cash terms following his decision to increase the personal income tax allowance for those aged under 65 years by £630 in April 2012;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) nationally, (b) in each region and (c) in each local authority who will be affected by his decision to increase the personal allowance for those aged under 65 years in April 2012.

David Gauke: The 2011 Budget announced a £630 cash increase in the personal allowance for under 65s to £8,105 in 2012-13 (£240 above indexation), with an equivalent reduction in the basic rate limit to leave the higher rate threshold unchanged.
	For taxpayers benefiting from the personal allowance increase this represents a £48 real terms and £126 cash benefit. Those on incomes above £116,210 will pay £48 more in real terms and £126 in cash terms.
	As a result of these measures, the Government estimates that 25 million taxpayers will benefit in 2012-13, among which 260,000 of the lowest income taxpayers will be removed from tax altogether. Information at Government Office Region is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Thousand 
			 Government Office Region Gainers Number taken out of income tax 
			 North East 1,020 10 
			 North West and Merseyside 2,680 28 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 2,000 26 
			 East Midlands 1,820 18 
			 West Midlands 2,140 25 
			 East of England 2,350 25 
			 London 3,170 30 
			 South East 3,560 32 
			 South West 2,170 24 
			 Wales 1,130 10 
			 Scotland 2,190 21 
			 Northern Ireland 646 9 
			 Address abroad/unknown 157 3 
			 All 25,000 260 
		
	
	These estimates are based on the 2007-08 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2011 economic and fiscal outlook.
	Reliable estimates are not available at the local authority level, due to greater uncertainties in projections for small geographical areas and small sample sizes.

Taxpayers

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely number of income tax payers in 2011-12.

David Gauke: Projected income taxpayer numbers in 2011-12 are published in Table 2.1 “Number of individual income taxpayers by marginal rate, gender and age, 1990-91 to 2011-12”, available on the HMRC website at the following address:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/table2-2.pdf